River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-03-10
FARMERS INSTITUTE.

iOlloMch Win Singing pg about thlilg
children, under the guidance Of Miss
Aggie Wells, which proved quite an in
teresting feature of the exercises.
The business of the session was intro
dueed by Mr.. C. V. Guy in a speech full
of important facts relative to the contrast
in the price of farms in different parts Of
the state, showing that in proportion to
the growth of the dairy interests there
had been an advance in the price of farm
lands, in consequence of the greater in
come derived from like number of acres
by dairy farming than could be secured
by the usual methods of grain raising,
etc The address was an admirable
preface 10 the most profitable discussions
engaged in during the entire work of the
institute.
DIR. r. j. Wilcox read an interesting
paper on "The Most Profitable Methods
of Feeding Stock" hereafter to appear in
these columns, followed by DIR. Parsons,
who started discussion on "clover cur
ing and storing" which brought out from
Mr.. Geo. Austin, of Clark county, and
other experienced farmers, a fund of
information which no farmer could well
afford to lose. The Doctors effort to stir
them up on the subject of Corn Fodder"
did not succeed so well, but found full
endorsement in the ensilage discussion
on the following day.
fTI,o - 10 ragcslt, al
up by Mr.. L. B. Terry, of Ohio, in an
address on Potato Culture" in which he
gave his methods of raising the indis-
pensible tuber on large scale. Mr.. Terry
was catechised by our willy farmers most
thoroughly, and the discussion was
thereby made most profitable. Mr. Ter
rvs manner of preparing the ground, and
seed, and clIltivating the plant, should
not be forgotten by farmers, as he is a
success in the business, and his yields of
200 to 800 bushels to the acre prove his
methods to be good.
In the evening session, Mr. w. III. Put
nam, of this city, gave a splendid talk on
'The advantages offered by the Agri-
cultural College to farmers" and the
benefits of the Experimental Station.
The balance of the evening was devoted
to "Wife Culture" with Mr. T. B. Terry
on the stand, who read a paper full OF
hits which was received by the large
audience gracefully, eliciting much APP
plause and putting all hands in the best
of humor.
Owing to some failure in his apparatus,
Prof Friedel was debarred from giving
his address on Lightning and Lightning
Rods"
The Tuesday morning session was the
fat take of the institute as far as the
farmers interests are concerned being
devoted to the discussion of the silo, and
making of ensilage and butter. The
butter question, by creamery process,
was handled by Mr.. Austin, of Clark
county, who, besides being a practical
! farmer also owns and runs a creamery
Mr. Austin gave in detail the butter.
making process, from the setting Of
milk to the packing of butter for market
and excited great interest on the subject
| by his close analysis of the entire subject
| giving a reason 1plly at every point.
Mr.. Gould, of Ohio, followed with silC
talk, and sprung a surprise on all present
by showing that one acre of sweet ensilage
is worth four acres of any grass food that
can be raised, flied in the old way. The
manner of building a silo by the new
plan was fully described, and the process
of filling explicitly given, as was also the
manner of planting, cultivating, and plan
and time of gathering the crop. Mr.
Gould is thoroughly posted on this sub
ject, and his remarks were gladly received
| by our farmers who seem to be fully
awakened to the necessity of finding the
best way to use land and feed stock.
The Tuesday afternoon session was de
voted to silo for a time, Mr.. Austin join
ing the van and giving his valuable
experience with 100 tons last year, which
fully converted him to the side of ensilage
food.
Mr.. Kimball Currier addressed the
meeting on "Choice of Small Grains, and
opened up lively debate full of interest
and good thought.
Mr.. Callahan, of st. Paul, closed the
afternoon session with paper on Horses
throwing out many suggestions farmers
should not forget.
Wednesday morning the session opened
at $50 A. NJ, with a horse discussion as to
the best weight of horses for profit, en-
gagged in by Messrs. Callahan, Guy, Glass,
Bailey. Lyman Healy, and others, but
the vital point, "h01g to create, or breed the
correct thing" was quite overlooked.
Mr.. ]. NJ. Bailey's paper on Bugs and
Insects, which will appear in these col
umns hereafter, furnished much food for
thought, and will be a valuable reference
for farmers in their struggles with grain
destroying insects. 1t drew out valuable
experiences with chinch bugs, from many
farmers, and created a lively and inter
esting discussion.
In the afternoon, Mr.. VIM. King read
valuable paper on "Bee Culture" fol-
lowed by Mrs r. c. Barlow, who read a
too brief charming paper on FASTENING
Ends and Binding Edges.
The institute closed its work with
"Forecasting of Weather Changes" by
Prof. f. II. King, who gave his audience
a rich treat.
The audiences were large from first to
last, and at some of the sessions the hall
was crowded to Inconvenience. The
farmers manifested lively interest in
the subjects discussed, and it is generally
conceded that this institute, as compared
with the one held in December, was the
most instructive and profitable of the
two.